kittell



A E. A. KITTELL.

No. 342,831. PatentedJu-ne 1,1886.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.-

L. L uu m... T I K Aw E. d. d 0 M o /N\ FILE.

PatenltedJu-ne- 1,

vAttorneys N. PETERS. Phom-Limngmpner. Wasmngmn. D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENLLOFlTe-in.

ERNEST A. KITTELL, OF VATERLOO, IOWA, ASSIGNOR OF FIVE-EIGHTHS TO BENJAMIN G. BUTTON, TIMOTHY N. KELLOGG, AND NVM. H. HARTMAN,

ALL OF SAME PLACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 342,831, dated June l, 1886.

Application filed August 18, 1885. Serial No. 174.738. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, ERNEsT ALBERT KIT- TELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Vaterloo, in the county of Black Hawk and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Files, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to improvements in 1o files especially adapted for use by druggists for ling physicians7 prescriptions; and the novelty consists in the construction, combination, and arrangement of. parts substantially as hereinafter fully set forth,and particularly r 5 pointed out in the claims.

My invention has for its object the provision of afile which shall compactly iile away letters, prescriptions, and the like, take up but a small space, permit ofthe ready and convenzo ient reference to any number prescription, Ste., cheap of manufacture, and simple and durable in construction.

I am aware that a le for letters, papers, and the like has been used which consists of a series of strips of paper or the like secured at each of its ends and arranged one below the other down a page or base-board, leaving an interf mediate space between each slip,below which the prescription is placed, leaving a small portion thereof exposed 5 but this device soon becomes unsightly and bulky in appearance, and will not compactly le the prescription, and does not permit of the ready reference to the prescriptions, &c.

vIn the drawings hereto annexed, Figure l is a perspective view of one of the sections of my file with the cover or leai` thereof extended.

Fig. 2 is a like View of an inclosing-case containing a number of the sections shown in Fig.

l indexed or` numbered for their convenient reference. Fig. 3 is a view showing one of the sheets or slips of a two-sheet ille-section properly cut to be woven or locked together with another sheet of like construction. Fig.

4 is a view showing one step of locking two of the sheets or slips together of a two-sheet hie-section. Fig. 5 is a view showing another step of locking thetwo sheets together. Fig. 6 is a view showing two of the leaves woven' 5o or locked together. Fig. 7 is a view of one of the sheets of a threesheet file-section. Fig.

8 is a view showing the manner in which the first two sheets are locked together. Fig. 9 is a View showing the manner of connecting the third sheet of the two previouslydocked sheets. Fig. l0 is a view showing the manner of weaving. Fig. ll is a perspective view showing a three-sheet lesection locked or woven together.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts lin all the figures ofthe drawings, referring to Which- A designates the inclosing-case, preferably rectangular in form,and made of wood, pasteboard, or any other preferred material, and having -a cover, A, hinged or otherwise se cured thereto.

B designates the nie-sections, a number of which are adapted to be compactly stored in the case A, each section being numbered consecutively and providedwvith projecting tags or indexes I), preferably secured at their up`- per outer edgesin any suitable manner. Y Each, file-section B comprises, essentially, a base piece or board, b', and two or more pages, b2, the latter being connected together, as presently described, and secured Vto one edge of the base-board b by means of glue or in any other preferred manuel'.

To connect the leaves or pages of the filesection securely together, and to prevent their loss or displacement from the section, I lock or weave them together at one of their edges, leaving the other edge free.

I take two sheets or slits to form a sheet or file-section, C C', of paper, and cut them as shown in Fig.- 3 of the drawings-that is to say, each sheet is cut into a series of slips or sections, e, the cuts extending from one edge of the sheet or slip nearly across the entire Width of the sheet, as at c', and terminating lat a point, a, a short distance from the oppo- ICO so that the notch f in the upper section of the top sheet engages thc notch or shoulder e between the upper sections of the adjacent or lower sheet, the top section lying a short dista nce from the upper edge ofthe lower section, as clearly shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6. The second slip or section of the lower sheet is now bent over the second slip of the top section, so that the notched shoulderh or notch between the first and second sections thereof will interlock with the notch f of the second section of the top sheet, thus assuming the position of the under sheet, and these successive movements of interlocking the notches h with the notches f of the tongues f/ to the section c are repeated until the desired number of sections c are woven or connected together. This arrangement leaves the slips or sections of each sheet interlocked with and partially overlapping each other, being successively and alternately exposed for one-half their` width on their upper edges and-faces, as will be readily understood.

To weave or interlock three of the sheets together, each sheet D D' D2 is cut to provide the slips or sections t, and at their connected edges each section or slip is provided with two spaced-apart incisions or notches, jj', to provide tongues K K. (See Fig. 7.) The second notch j of the first or upper section of the third underlying sheet D" is interlocked with the notch e between the first and second sections i of the second sheet or slip D', thus causing the second notch, j, of the upper section, z', of the second sheet D to .register with the first notch j of the upper section, fi, of' the third sheet. The inner edge, l, of the first section 'i of the first sheet D is now insertedin the registering-notches j j of the second and third sheets D D2, respectively, and the second or intermediate sheet D is folded over so that the inner edge, Z, of the second section thereof rests in the registering-notches j j of the second section 'i of the two upper sheets D D"'. The lower sheet D is now folded over so that its notch I fits the registering-notches jjl of the sheets D D2, thus causing each sheet and its contained sections to successively assume the positions of first, second,or intermediate, and third or bottom sheets, and when one of said sheets constitute the bottom sheet it is folded over its fellow sheets to cause the inner edge, Z, between its adjacent sections fi, to fit in the registering-notches 7' j of the sectionsz' ofthe remaining sheets, and this method is continued until all the sections i have been locked or woven together.

The number of sheets employed can be varied to suit the requirements of the case, the number of incisions and tongues corresponding to the number of sheets employed, and the exposed face of each slip or section is designed to receive a letter, prescription, or the like, and is indexed and numbered, as shown in Fig. 1.

The sheets or pages, after having been woven together, are secured to a base piece or board by .means of mucilage, glue, or other devices, and the prescriptions are secured to the slips or sections e to leave a portion of the same exposed, and the sections are numbered consecutively from top to bottom, or vice versa, for convenient reference thereto.

It' desired, the slips or sections e l may be gummed or have a dried adhesive substance on their upper edges, to which the bills, letters, &c., may be quickly secured by meistening the said gummed portion.

Each section B may have covers B secured thereon in any preferred manner, and the baseboard b is provided on its under surface with one or more strips, b, of paste or straw board or other material, glued or otherwise secured thereon, the thick ness of the strips being equal to the outer edge of the said board b', thus causing the file-section B to be of equal depth or thickness at both edges to present a neat appearance and fit closely and eompactly within the inclosing-case A when stored away.

Each page may have one or more rows of 9o slips, b2, extending from the top toward the bottom thereof, and when it is desired to employ two rows the sections extend but halfway across the base-board, as is obvious.

In piactice I prefer to employ four sheets` two of which areinterlocked, asdescribed, and extend half-way across the base-board, while the other two are similarly connected and occupy the remaining outer half of the baseboard. Each sheet is provided with twentyfive sections, and, there being four sheets or pages, the file-section is thus capable of compactly receiving one hundred bills or prescriptions. Each section may be made with a greater' number of pages, or the pages may contain a larger number of slips than that above described, and the case may be made sufficiently large to contain from ten-to any higher number of the sections. It will thus be seen that a prescription, bill, or other paper can be readily and quickly consulted', the number thereof having been first ascertained from an index-book, and the section contain ing that number having been withdrawn from the case A, the prescription can be readily found by merely turning theleaves of the section, each slip of the page being numbered facilitating the finding thereof. By turning or folding over the slip below the one it is desi red to consult the whole face of the bill or prescription is exposed to View, so that mistakes in putting up the compound will not be made by looking at another prescription, as frequently happens when the prescriptions are placed on a wire, rod, or file, where those above are liable to fall down. In my device there is but one prescription exposed to view, and that is the one that it is desired to consult.

It will be observed that afle'constructcd in accordance with my invention is simple, cheap, and durable, that the prescriptions, &c., can be readily and quickly filed away, and that they can be almost instantly found and consulted.

Having thus fully described my invention,

IOO

IlO

IA L

edges, substantially as described.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a filesection comprising a baseboard, two or more leaves or pages suitably secured at one edge thereto, and a protecting-cover,each page being cut transversely into sections, and each section having a series of cuts adapted to interlock with the cuts on the sections of the adjacent page, substantially as described.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a filesection comprising a base-board having a strip,

1f, a series of leaves or pages arranged in two rows longitudinally of the base-board'and seeu red thereto at one of their edges, and a cover, the leaves or pages of each row being cuttransversely into sections adapted to overlap one another, and each section having a series of cuts at one of its edges which are adapted to interlock with the next page, substantially as described.

5. In a file, the combination,with an inclosing-case, of a series of file-sections normally inclosed within the case and adapted to be withdrawn therefrom, each file-section having two or more leaves locked together at one of their edges and having a series of overlapping sections which are adapted to receive a bill, &c., substantially as described.

6. As an article of manufacture, a file comprising an i nclosing-case and a series of consecutively-numbered file-sections normally inclosed within the case and adapted to be withdrawn therefrom, each file-section having a cover and two or more pages intel-locked together at one of their edges, and having a series of overlapping sections to receive a bill, prescription, and the like, substantially as described.

7. A -tile-section comprising a base and two or more sheets interlocked together at one of their edges, and provided with overlapping sections to receive a bill, letter, and the like, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ERNEST A. KIT'IELL.

' Vitnesses: I

R. I). FowLEn, J. L. HENDERSON. 

